Is White Gold Magnetic? You Know the Truth? Let’s Explore

Published: 07 Jan 2025

Hey guys!

Do you know white gold has been used for hundreds of years due to its elegance and modern look? But one question, that has confused thousands of people all over the world is

Is white gold magnetic?

However, white gold directly is not a magnetic material but there are some conditions where white gold can act like a magnetic material.

So guys, to understand, when white gold becomes a magnetic material, we will need to understand its structure.

Here I shared when white gold becomes magnetic, what makes it magnetic, what is magnetism and how do you know if your white gold jewelry is magnetic.

So are you ready?

Table of Content

Is White Gold Magnetic? What Makes It Magnetic?
What Is Magnetism?
How do you test if your white gold is magnetic?

Is White Gold Magnetic? What Makes It Magnetic?

Guys, do you know that white gold is not pure gold, it’s an alloy which means it’s made by mixing various metals like silver, palladium, platinum, and nickel.

In reality, the amount of pure gold in white gold is not directly a magnetic material but nickel and palladium make it magnetic.

The answer to the question, “How strong can white gold be magnetic” depends on its purity level. We make three common types of white gold based on their purity level. They are,

18k white gold
14k white gold
And 10k white gold

18k white gold contains more pure gold than 14k and 14k contains more pure gold than 10k.

Usually, we don’t feel any magnetic effect in 18k white gold because it has a very small amount of nickel and palladium which makes white gold magnetic.

But 14k and 10k white gold can show weak magnetic effects in highly strong magnetic fields.

What Is Magnetism?

Guys I’ll define it easier as you can understand easily. magnetism is a force that attracts or repels magnetic materials such as iron and steel.

Magnetism is created due to the movement of electric charges of an atom like electrons and electric currents.

Here are three common types of magnetism and their common examples.

Ferromagnetism: Materials that strongly attract magnets. Examples: Iron, nickel, cobalt.
Paramagnetism: Materials that attract magnets weakly. Examples: Aluminum, palladium, oxygen.
Diamagnetism: Materials that repel a magnetic field. Examples: Copper, graphite, water.

How do you test if your white gold is magnetic?

A Boy Checking Whether White Gold Is Magnetic

Guys, testing whether your white gold is magnetic or not is super easy.

Just bring a powerful magnet such as neodymium.
Now hold the magnet close to your white gold jewelry and observe if there’s any reaction.

In most cases, white gold will not be attracted to the magnet because it’s made by mixing gold (a non-magnetic metal) with other non-magnetic metals like palladium or silver.

However, if your white gold contains nickel, which is magnetic, you may notice a slight attraction. This reaction is usually very faint, so it’s important to use a strong magnet for accurate results.